Across A Moonlit Sea (Pirate Wolf series) by Canham Marsha

Across A Moonlit Sea (Pirate Wolf series) by Canham Marsha

Author:Canham, Marsha [Canham, Marsha]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Marsha Canham
Published: 2011-06-01T07:00:00+00:00


CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Sleep well, he had told her, and dream of pleasure. Beau closed the door to her father’s cabin behind her and stood in the gloom of the companionway, hearing the echo of Dante’s parting words in her head. Dream of pleasure?

An innocent phrase or another subtle mockery?

A round of male laughter drew her eyes down to the narrow slice of light fanning out from the crack beneath the door and she wondered what they would be dreaming about this night. Probably the pleasure of going to war with Spain.

While it was true Sir Francis Drake and others had been warning the Queen for many months of a building frenzy in Spanish ports, it was also true—and the dilemma of any sovereign who did not want to venture into a war unless all avenues of negotiation were exhausted—that Elizabeth could not squander the money of her overtaxed subjects to build a navy on rumor and speculation alone. If Dante had found proof of Spain’s intentions, then war was inevitable and the Queen would need all of her loyal merchantmen and privateers to defend England’s shores from invasion. That included the Egret, and the sooner home, the better.

Beau looked along the corridor to her own door. There was another weak sliver of light spilling out the bottom, and she supposed Billy had transferred the rest of the maps and charts from the Spanish galleon. She needed her own charts for the morning and it was probably best to find them now instead of stumbling about with a thick head at dawn.

It seemed odd somehow to hesitate on the threshold of her own cabin, to feel like a trespasser when most of the belongings inside were hers. Perhaps it was just the sight of the shirt Dante had cast off earlier, still crumpled in a heap in the corner, or the faint scent of sunshine and leather that lingered behind, that was making her skittish. Even more likely, she could blame the wine and the talk of itching and scratching for making her skin prickle and her throat aware of every breath she took.

A single candle flickered inside its glass lamp on the chart table. There was brighter moonlight streaming through the slanted windows, and drawn by the thought of a fresh breath of air, she crossed to the gallery door and slipped outside onto the narrow balcony.

To starboard the looming hull of the San Pedro blocked the horizon. The Egret was anchored off her stern quarter, riding lightly on the gentle swells, kept at a secure distance by the grappling lines. She could hear banging and sawing on the decks above; she could smell pitch and smoke and the metallic scent of spent gunpowder. She would have liked to cross the gallery and have a closer look at the humbled goliath anchored beside them, but to do so she would have to pass the windows on Spence’s side of the ship and unless she ducked down like a thief, they would think she was spying on them.



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